barnard



No. 6l7,2l8. Patented Jan. 3, I899.

G. A. BARNARD.

Lluum coouna APPARATUS.

(Application filed $ept. 28, 1897.) (No Model.)

FIBJ.

WITNESSES:

rric.

GEORGE A. BARNARD, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

LIQUID- COOLING APPARATUS.

SPEOIFICATIGN forming part of Letters Patent No. 617,218, dated January 3, 1899.

Application filed September 28, 1897. Serial No. 658,284. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. BARNARD, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Liquid-Cooling Apparatus, of which improvement the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus of the class or type in which water or other liquid is cooled by the action of currents of air while passing in finely-divided streams or jets over forth.

Various constructions of water-cooling apparatus operating upon the general principle of applying currents of air to streams or jets of water traversing in opposite direction to the aircurrents have been heretofore proposed and some have been put in practice with more or less satisfactory results. Obj ections have, however, been found in the particulars of being expensive to construct, not fully efficient, and requiring a comparatively great and costly amount of power to force the air through the apparatus, so that the net gain or value of the appliance becomes too small to warrant or encourage extended use. My invention is designed to remedy these objections and to provide an apparatus which may be generally and advantageously applied and operated.

The leading and essential feature of. my invention consists in the combination of a supply-pipe with a plurality of vertical coolingsurfaces disposed radially about a common axial line, so as to enable liquid passing over said surfaces to be cooled by the refrigerating and evaporative action of currents of air moving in any direction and applied thereto at right angles to the traverse of the liquid. \Vhile the circulation of air may be either natural or mechanically effected, primarily my invention is of a typethat can, under ordinary prevailing atmospheric conditions, be operated without cost for power, as no fan or blower is of necessary application. A sufficient volume of air may be freely and efficiently circulated over and through the entire mass of liquid-cooling surfaces by reason of the radial distribution of such surfaces when the air is moving in any direction with a barely perceptible velocity.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a vertical central section through a liquidcooling apparatus, illustrating an application of my invention; Fig. 2, a plan or top view with the truss-rods removed, and Fig. 3 a horizontal section at the line a: w of Fig. 1.

In the practice of my invention I provide a suitable base 1, upon which the remaining members of the apparatus are supported and which may be desirably a tank, as shown, for the reception of the cooled liquid. A vertical stand-pipe 2, through which the wathe apparatus and which is formed integral with or otherwise fixed to a foot 3, is secured centrally to the base and extends for a short distance above the tops of a plurality of vertical cooling-surfaces i, which surround the stand-pipe and are preferably, as shown, disposed at short distances apart radially to the axial line thereof. The cooling-surfaces 4 are preferably composed of sheets of wire cloth or netting; but sheets or plates of metal or wood or sheets of canvas or other fabric'or material may be used, if desired. While the inner edges of the sheets or plates of mate rial forming the cooling-surfaces may, if desired, extend to or nearly to the periphery of the central stand-pipe 2, the traverse of air horizontally through and between them will be promoted by setting them at such a distance from the stand-pipe as to leave a cylindrical central space 5 of substantial volume around said pipe, into and through which currents of air may pass and be freely discharged at all points of the circumference of the series of cooling-surfaces which are not exposed to the initial force of the ai'r-currents, so that the entire mass of cooling-surfaces may be subjected to the influence of the aircurrents. In order to prevent the vertical traverse of air through the central space 5 ter or other liquid to be cooled is supplied to and compel the currents of air to pass through the apparatus in horizontal planes and at right angles to the downward flow of liquid over the cooling-surfaces 4, divisi0n-plates or diaphragms (5 are sup ported,preferably bybeing secured to the stand-pipe 2 at different levels in the surrounding space 5 and extend to or nearly to the inner edges of the coolingsurfaces 4.

A light frame, composed of a series of vertical rods or tubes 8 and horizontal braces 9, may be utilized for supporting the structure on the base 1 around and above the watersurfaces 4, which have no casing or covering and are therefore fully open to the action of currents of air moving in any direction about them, the apparatus being designed to be erected in an exposed position, as on the roof of a building or in a yard or open space where currents of air mayhave free access to it. A receiving-pan 7 surrounds and is connected to the stand-pipe 2, below a series of circumferential discharge-openings 10 therein, and the inner ends of the braces 9 may be connected to said pan. The pan and braces may also, as shown, be connected by truss-rods 11 to a collar 12, fixed 011 the upper end of the stand pipe 2. A series of horizontal discharge-pipes 13 projects from the receivingpan 7 over the tops of the cooling-surfaces 4, said pipes being slotted or perforated on their upper or lower sides to discharge liquid in finely-divided streams upon the cooling-surfaces, and the latter may be suspended on and supported by the frame, preferably by being hung upon the discharge-pipes 13. A delivery-pipe 15 leads from the tank 1 below the cooling-surfaces to any desired point of reception of the cooled liquid.

In order to counteract the tendency of high winds to blow liquid away from the coolingsurfaces, and thereby cause'waste, a segmental screen or shield 14:, which can be turned into any desired position and removed from the apparatus when not required, may be fitted to stand in and be moved around in the lower pan 1, said screen being adapted to cover such portion of the outer edges of the cooling-surfaces as it may be considered desirable to protect from the action of unduly strong winds.

The apparatus is simple, light, and comparatively inexpensive in construction and may be readily installed in anylocation where the action of atmospheric currents moving in any and all directions can be freely exerted upon the cooling-surfaces. A material operative economy is effected by the utilization of air in natural movement as compared with a forced circulation.

I claim as myinvention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a liquid-cooling apparatus, the combination, substantially as set forth, of a 1iquidsupply pipe, and a plurality of vertical coolin g-surfaces disposed radially about an inner open space, said surfaces being located in position to receive liquid delivered upon them from above in streams or jets from said pipe, and having free inner and outer edges so as to form between them passages open from the periphery to the inner open space so as to admit currents of air at right angles to the course of descent of the liquid over said surfaces.

2. In a liquid-cooling apparatus, the combination, substantially as set forth, of a liquidsupply pipe, a plurality of vertical coolingsurfaces, located in position to receive liquid delivered in streams or jets from said pipe and having free inner and outer edges so as to form between them passages open from the periphery to an inner open space formed by the vertical cooling-surfaces, and divisionplates or diaphragms horizontally dividing said inner open space.

3. In aliquid-cooling apparatus, the combi nation, substantially as set forth, of a liquidsupply pipe, a plurality of vertical coolingsurfaces, located in position to receive liquid delivered in streams or jets from said pipe and open at their outer sides or edges so as to admit currents of air at right angles to the traverse of liquid over them, and a movable screen or shield adapted to be adjusted in position to protect the outer portion of the cooling-surfaces from the effect of a strong or excessive current of air at any desired point.

4. In a liquid-cooling apparatus, the combination,- substantially as set forth, of a liquidsupply pipe, and a plurality of vertical cooling-surfaces disposed radially about an inner open space, said surfaces being located in position to receive liquid delivered upon them from above in streams or jets from said pipe, and having free inner and outer edges so as to form between them passages open from the periphery so as to admit currents of air at right angles to the course of descent of the liquid over said surfaces, and an open frame supporting said surfaces.

5. In a liquid-cooling apparatus, the combination, substantially as set forth, of a base, a supply-pipe connected thereto, a plurality of vertical cooling-surfaces surrounding said supply-pipe and having their inner edges set at a distance therefrom so as to provide an inner open space, branch discharge pipes leading from the supply-pipe to points above the cooling-surfaces, and division-plates or diaphragms supported on the supply-pipe at different levels in the inner open space.

6. In a liquid-cooling apparatus, the combi nation, substantially as set forth, of a base, a central supply-pipe connected thereto, a plurality of vertical cooling-surfaces disposed radially about an inner central open space, and having free inner and outer edges so as to form between them passages open from the periphery to the central open space so as to admit currents of air at right angles to the course of descent of the liquid over them, and branch discharge-pipes leading from the supply-pipe to points above said cooling-surfaces and serving to support them.

discharge-pipes leading from the supply-pipe 10 to points above the cooling-surfaces, and an open frame connected to the base and to the supply-pipe.

GEO. A. BARNA'RD.

Witnesses:

WM. E. GRAY, E. B. JOHNSON. 

